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Article published January 8, 2013

Accident this morning kills 2 children

An SUV slid on ice on Harmony Road this morning and went off the road, killing two young children in the vehicle driven by their mother.The accident occurred at 10:21 a.m. in Connoquenessing Township.Icy roads caused numerous vehicle accidents across Butler County this morning. They were reported mainly in the center part of the county.Also, an automated phone message from the Butler School District this morning told parents that afternoon kindergarten had been canceled and that students in the morning kindergarten program were being held at their schools until the general elementary school dismissal at 3:30 p.m.The South Butler School District cancelled it’s afternoon kindergarten as well.Maynard Harvey, Moniteau High School principal, said Butler County Vocational Technical School canceled its afternoon session because of the icy road conditions, which caused those students to remain at the high school.Mars, Seneca Valley, Karns City and Slippery Rock school districts were all running on normal schedules.Lee Hendricks, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh, said the icing took place as a cold front moved through the region.“At 5 a.m., most places were at or above freezing, but then the cold front came through and cold air was trapped in lower lying areas,” Hendricks said.As the rain came through, surfaces froze quickly.“We were expecting this system to be more scattered,” Hendricks said, adding that temperatures will rise throughout the day with rain possible later this afternoon.